A wide variety of electrical connectors have been designed for terminating flat cables or circuits, such as flat flexible cables, flexible printed circuits or the like. A typical connector for flat circuits includes a dielectric housing molded of plastic material, for instance. The housing has an elongated opening or slot for receiving an end of the flat circuit which has generally parallel, laterally spaced conductors exposed across the end. A plurality of terminals are mounted in the housing and are spaced laterally along the slot, with contact portions of the terminals engageable with the laterally spaced conductors of the flat circuit. An actuator often is movably mounted on the housing for movement between a first position whereat the flat circuit is freely insertable into the slot and a second position whereat the actuator clamps the circuit in the housing and biases the circuit against the contact portions of the terminals.
One of the problems with flat circuit connectors of the character described above, is that when an excessive withdrawal force is placed or pulled on the flat circuit, the actuator can possibly rotate and inadvertently release the flat circuit from the connector. The present invention is directed to solving this and other problems of the prior art.
Examples of such prior art flat circuit connectors are shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-190,360; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-45,581; and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open 3-103,578.
FIG. 21 shows a prior art flat circuit connector, generally designated 22, which includes a dielectric housing, generally designated 24, which mounts a plurality of laterally spaced terminals 26. An actuator, generally designated 28, is pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between an open position (shown in phantom) allowing a flat circuit to be inserted into a slot 30 of the housing and a closed position (shown in full lines) biasing flexible contact arms 26a of the terminals against the flat circuit. Each terminal 26 includes a generally horizontal base portion 26b which is fixed within a passage 32 of the housing. The flexible contact arm is joined to the base by an upright joint section 26c of the terminal. An actuator section 26d extends rearwardly of the joint section versus the forwardly extending direction of flexible contact arm 26a. Rotation of the actuator from its open position to its closed position pushes upwardly on actuator section 26b which, in turn, pushes downwardly on flexible contact arm 26a as joint section 26c acts as a “teeter” or fulcrum.